Twelve-year-old gelding Johns Dream, the winningest harness horse ever in Woodstock, Va., received a winner's circle presentation as he got his 30th local win in the Free For All Pace on Thursday, Aug. 28 at Shenandoah County Fair.
Trainer-driver Chuck Perry Jr. drove his horse to a 1:56.4 mile, rating him to :29.1, :59, and 1:28.1 fractions and finishing the wire-to-wire effort with a three-length cushion over Bluebird Ina (Eric Davis). Rodman (Billy Carter) finished third.
Overall, Johns Dream has 51 wins from 149 starts and earnings of $411,345. Thirty of those wins came at either Shenandoah Downs or the Shenandoah County Fair meet. The son of Dream Away-March On In, who held the Downs track record of 1:52.1 for seven years and has a life mark of 1:50.3, is owned by Perry.
Perry had two other drives on Thursday and won both, completing a driving hat trick. He scored with The Lizard, a pacer he owns and trains, that is now five-for-five in Woodstock this year. He capped off the afternoon by driving Henry Lewis's Captain Malicious to victory in the eighth race.
Michael Whitaker's trotter Vulcan Hanover, the second-winningest horse in Woodstock behind Perry's pacer, recorded his 26th local victory during the card in the Free For All Trot. Whitaker piloted his charge to a 1-3/4-length victory in 2:00 after taking over the lead from Steve Wetzel's Defriended just past the half. Cs Explosive Chip (Carter) finished second over Tristar Carmen (Sierra Seidner). The winning eight-year-old Donato Hanover-Variety Girl gelding is 32-for-73 with earnings of $155,178.
Later in the card, on a day with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 20s, 17-year-old Joseph Malone got his first driving win aboard Warnick's Leroys Skipn Skool in the seventh race. And Malone had company in the winner's circle to celebrate his achievement, as he finished in a dead heat with Eric Davis's Moneyorroses (Steve Robinson) in 2:02.
Few drivers in history can say they got their first win via a dead heat, but Malone now can.
"I thought he won, but the other horse was a lot larger than my horse so I wasn't sure," said Malone. "I figured it was pretty close, then when I heard them announce my horse's name over the P.A. system it was pretty cool. I knew it was really close. I'm glad I got the experience to drive here and am looking forward to the rest of the week. I love doing this."
Malone brought seven of Warnick's horses to the Fair from Delaware to compete — some two-year-olds and some overnight horses. He has driven at the Great Pokomoke Fair in Maryland each year since he was 14 and had won twice previously there. Since that isn't a USTA-sanctioned fair though, the wins have not counted on his record. Malone will start his senior year of high school next week in Bethany Beach, Del., and after graduation, he hopes to start driving and training horses regularly. He will begin working toward his provisional license as early as February.
The 108th Shenandoah County Fair race meet continues in Woodstock with a seven-race card Friday and an eight-race card Saturday. First post on both days is set for noon. The Shenandoah Downs pari-mutuel meet kicks off on Sept. 13 and continues through Oct. 26. A ceremonial ribbon cutting for the new $2 million,165-stall horse barn will be held on the grounds next Friday Sept. 5.
(Shenandoah County Fair)